It’s easy for White Sox fans to be impressed with rookie catcher Edgar Quero.
They can see it in the statistics, such as the .326 batting average and .442 on-base percentage he put up in his first 15 major-league games.
They can see it in individual games, such as the 2-for-3, two-RBI day he had in the Sox’ 7-3 victory Friday against the Astros.
But it’s not as easy to see what else the Sox have liked about Quero’s early days in the big leagues. What a catcher does working with a pitching staff can’t be looked up in a heartbeat, as offensive numbers can, and can’t be as easily isolated as a trip to the plate.
Make no mistake, however: Quero is getting rave reviews for that part of his game, too.
‘‘He’s been great,’’ starting pitcher Sean Burke told the Sun-Times on Saturday. ‘‘I’ve been fortunate enough to throw to him in the minors, so we kind of had a relationship coming into this year. But I think everybody’s been super-pleased with how he’s been working with the pitching staff, how attentive he’s been to the defensive side of catching, too.
‘‘Obviously, you see he’s a great hitter. But the detail and the preparation he’s putting into the defensive side of it is impressive.’’
Quero joined the Sox’ organization as a well-regarded prospect, his offensive numbers standing out when he arrived as part of the trade that sent right-handers Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez to the Angels in 2023. And though he raced through the minor leagues — he made his major-league debut 11 days after his 22nd birthday — the compliments about his bat seemed to fuel an idea that he had a lot to improve with his glove.
Not so, according to Burke, who benefitted from Quero’s presence in his most recent start, in which he allowed two hits in six scoreless innings.
‘‘I think he got a little bit of a negative rap for his defense,’’ Burke said. ‘‘Just because his hitting was so good, they were like, ‘His defense needs to get better.’ But I don’t think his defense was ever an issue, really. I just think he’s taken that as a chip on his shoulder, where he sees people talking about that or knows that’s kind of a knock people had on him. But I think he’s been terrific.’’
The guy whose job it was to develop Quero into a major-league-ready player perhaps has a slightly more nuanced view of his all-around game. But Sox farm director Paul Janish still liked what he saw from Quero enough to sign off on his promotion last month from Triple-A Charlotte to The Show.
That said, development doesn’t stop because a player reaches the big leagues. And whether it’s continuing to refine and improve every facet of his game or continuing to learn the ins and outs of the pitching staff, there’s plenty more for Quero to achieve as a potential cornerstone of the Sox’ long-term rebuilding project.
‘‘That’s the one thing about this year, in particular, that we really got from him in Charlotte: He was acknowledging that he is open and wants to continue to get better,’’ Janish said during a media session Saturday. ‘‘He’s not going to tell you that he’s a finished product defensively. And that’s pretty much in all facets, if we’re talking about framing or game-planning.
‘‘Look, we’re not hiding here. There’s going to be a lot from that standpoint that he needs to learn about a new pitching staff at the major-league level, new hitters at the major-league level. All of those things go into the equation. But the one thing that stuck out was his openness and acknowledgment that there’s a lot that goes into it, and he wants to continue to get better at it.’’